easternKicks.com - the ultimate site for Asian film!

Review

Re/Member

A group of Japanese high school students find themselves trapped in a time loop and pursued by a murderous spirit…

Review

Picture of a Nymph

Joey Wong is the highlight of a very pretty, but unimaginative fantasy…

Review

The Eye

The early Asian horror hit of the 2000s returns with a new 4K restoration…

Review

Helter Skelter

Interesting but flawed exploration of celebrity culture…

Review

The Bride from Hell

Chou Hsu-Chiang brings ghosts, magic and love…

Review
Shutter
A new Indonesian take on the 2004 Thai horror classic which leans more into melodrama than the supernatural…
Review
Sakuran
More is more in Mika Ninagawa’s debut feature…
Interview
Kazuya Shiraishi Interview: “I don’t try to make dark films – they just...
As full of surprises in conversation as career, Shiraishi talks all that makes him tick upon new theatrical and home releases of Bushido…
Interview
Bi Gan interview: “Our lives go through ups and downs, but films...
We talk to the acclaimed director about his latest feature Resurrection…
Review
Save the Green Planet!
Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 cult classic gets a new 4K restoration courtesy of Arrow Video…
Review
The Ghost Lovers
Li Ching stars in this romantic ghostly tale…

COMING SOON...

Review: Agitator
Review: The Blade
Review: Deadly Parasite

Latest news

All the latest news from Asian cinema...

News
CinemAsia Film Festival 2026 unveils lineup of 44 films
Amsterdam-based festival is back for its 18th edition
News
Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema returns for 20th Edition!
The Windy City’s premiere Film Festival is back with a selection of the best new latest Asian films…
News
Oscar nominee Kokuho comes to 28th Far East Film Festival
Lee Sang-il’s sumptuous film will follow to cinemas in Italy…
News
Mint Chinese Film Festival returns for 4th edition
Kendal Brewery Arts becomes the new home for programme running from 6 to 9 March…
News
Garden Cinema presents the UK’s first-ever comprehensive Jia Zhangke retrospective
From 8 March, this eight-week programme will include all 15 of Jia’s feature films…
News
Politics of Time: The Films of Anocha Suwichakornpong
The varied and contemplative works of Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong are coming to Metrograph…

Time Capsule: The Films of Jia Zhangke

Starting in March and running for eight weeks, The Garden Cinema, London will present the UK’s first-ever comprehensive retrospective dedicated to Jia Zhangke…

News
Garden Cinema presents the UK’s first-ever comprehensive Jia Zhangke retrospective
From 8 March, this eight-week programme will include all 15 of Jia’s feature films…
Feature
A film 22 years in production: Caught by the Tides
Jia Zhangke strikes again capturing the ever so changing China in a film that spans across a generation…
Review
Caught by the Tides
Chinese Sixth Generation auteur Jia Zhangke at his most experimental and romantic…
Feature
Xiao Wu: from underground film to restored cinema classic
Bringing unique images Jia Zhangke’s hometown to the world…
Review
Ash Is Purest White
Zhao Tao plays one of the finest performances of her career so far, the return to form we’ve been waiting for from Jia Zhangke…
Review
24 City
Eight individuals reminisce their days at an old military factory, revealing the China of yesteryear…
Review
A Touch Of Sin
Four apparently random acts of violence are explored in minute detail…
Review
Jia Zhangke, A Guy from Fenyang
This intelligent, enjoyable documentary provides an insightful portrait of Jia and the fast-changing China his films explore…
Review
Mountains May Depart
Jia Zhangke’s latest is an ambitious three part tale charting change in China from the recent past to an imagined future…
Interview
Jia Zhangke and Walter Salles interview: ‘I was struck by the universality…...
We talk to acclaimed filmmakers Jia and Salles about their latest films, Mountains May Depart and Jia Zhangke, A Guy from Fenyang…

The fourth volume in Arrow Video’s Shawscope series comes to Blu-ray on 8th December 2025, celebrating Hong Kong’s mightiest film studio and the special effects-driven horror and sci-fi cinema that dominated the global box office in the 1970s — taking things one step beyond!

Review
Bloody Parrot
Hua Shan presents a horror-infused wuxia tale with a touch of sex and gore…
Review
Bat Without Wings
Chor Yuen does what he does best while trying so much more for a wuxia mystery of grotesque beauty…
Review
The Oily Maniac
Classic exploitation howler where a man transforms to enact revenge upon those who have unwisely wronged him…
Review
The Seeding of a Ghost
One of the Shaw Brothers’ most infamous and sleazy shockers finally gets the rerelease it deserves…
Review
Black Magic
A little sleazy, a little gory and a lot dated. This film is everything you could want from a 1970s horror…
Review
Bloody Parrot
One of the crazier of the later Shaw Brothers films, mixing magic, martial arts and bloody madness…
Review
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Shaw Brothers oddity as sci fi meets comedy spoof in a car crash of a movie, but not one without merit…
Review
The Super Inframan
A joyful and frenetic cult classic take on the superhero movie…
Review
The Seeding of a Ghost
Spells, sorcery and copulation from beyond the grave; presenting another Shaw Brothers horror classic that’s as daft as it’s gory…
Feature
Black Magic and Sleazy Spells: The Shaw Brothers Horror Films
As part of our special Shaw Brothers Halloween season, we take a look at the studio’s best-known horrors…

BFI London Film Festival 2025

The 69th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) returns this Autumn from 8 to 19 October…

Interview
Bi Gan interview: “Our lives go through ups and downs, but films...
We talk to the acclaimed director about his latest feature Resurrection…
Review
Calif Chong interview: “A casting director might say that’s ‘uncastable’ – lesson...
We talk to the director of British film High Wire about her debut and career…
Interview
Akira Emoto interview: “I hope more films are made about Japan from...
A Japanese screen legend speaks with us about his English-language debut…
Review
Rental Family
Brendan Fraser stars in Hikari’s film about Japan’s infamous ‘rental family’ services…
Review
Left-Handed Girl
With Sean Baker co-writing the results are perhaps not unexpected, but still a joy…
Review
High Wire
Isabella Wei stars as a young woman stuck in her family’s takeaway business who dreams of something more…
Review
A Useful Ghost
An inventively whacky comic premise that turns to dark commentary…
Review
No Other Choice
Park Chan-wook returns with a comedy caper starring Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin…
Review
Human Resource
Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit returns to the workplace as a HR manager considers whether to bring a child into the world…
Review
The World of Love
Newcomer Seo Su-bin shines in Yoon Ga-eun’s stunning teen drama…

cineXtremes

Celebrating the excesses of Hong Kong Category III, Asian extreme and exploitation cinema…

Review
Re/Member
A group of Japanese high school students find themselves trapped in a time loop and pursued by a murderous spirit…
Review
Shutter
A new Indonesian take on the 2004 Thai horror classic which leans more into melodrama than the supernatural…
Review
Save the Green Planet!
Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 cult classic gets a new 4K restoration courtesy of Arrow Video…
Review
Death Forest: Forbidden Forest
A group of students come up against a murderous giant floating head in this obscure 2014 Japanese shocker…
Review
Haunted Changi
A documentary filmmaker and his crew visit a haunted hospital in this 2010 Singapore found footager…
Review
Ghost Train
A Korean YouTuber investigates a haunted train station, only to find that its sinister urban legends are terrifyingly real…
Review
Pandemic
A 2009 Japanese take on the usual Outbreak formula sees a virus threatening the country and staff of an overwhelmed hospital…
Review
Grave Torture
Joko Anwar’s 2024 shocker follows a woman obsessed with the religious fear of eternal torment after death…
Review
The Viral Factor
Dante Lam’s 2012 thriller saw the director being given a considerably bigger budget to blow even more things up loudly…
Review
Posthouse
An editor restoring a lost silent Filipino horror film releases a demon in Nikolas Red’s directorial debut…

New York Asian Film Festival 2025

The New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) returns July 11–27 for its boldest edition yet, unleashing a full-scale feast for Asian cinema lovers…

Interview
Banjong Pisanthanakun interview: “This kind of ghostly story really scared us!”
With more frighting features on the way, Banjong talks Shutter in 4K…
Review
Bel Ami
A contemplative black comedy about a hidden gay community in freezing northeast China, shot in black and white…
Review
Possession Street
Not a comedic romp, but a well-paced piece of melodrama and horror…
Review
Ravens
Film based photography is all about processing light and darkness, can art and film process a life too?…
Review
I, The Song
A subtle drama using local cultures and attitudes to weave a mystery, yet relatable no matter where you are…
Review
Lilim
A familiar but entertaining gothic tale from the director Mikhail Red…
Interview
The Stone interview: “Why cheat so much when you are playing with...
A bold debut explores Thai amulet culture, karma, and the cost of belief…
Review
Last Song for You
Ekin Cheng shines in this tender romance with a mighty twist…
News
NYAFF 2025 Has Arrived!
Full lineup and Uncaged Nominees revealed as “Cinema as Disruption” takes over New York…
Review
Dollhouse
You’ve been warned about creepy dolls…

J-Horror Rising

Arrow revive the classic turn of the millennium Japanese horrors with a new boxset collection and separate release of Tomie, based on Junji Itō’s notorious manga creation…

Review
Three / Three… Extremes
The Peter Chan-produced horror anthology series makes a welcome return to home media…
Review
Shikoku
A woman returns to her rural hometown where she encounters the ghost of a childhood friend in this familiar 1999 J-Horror…
Review
Isola: Multiple Personality Girl
A psychic woman travels to Kobe to help victims of the 1995 earthquake, where she meets a troubled girl…
Review
Tomie
A slow burning adaptation of Junji Ito’s classic manga from Ataru Oikawa…
Review
Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman
A disfigured supernatural murderess stalks children in this 2007 J-horror drawn from an urban legend…
Review
St. John’s Wort
A young woman inherits a creepy abandoned mansion in this 2001 Japanese video game adaptation…

The best in film festival coverage, year after year

Coverage of CinemAsia Film Festival 2019

Coverage of BFI London Film Festival 2019

Coverage of New York Asian Film Festival 2022

Coverage of Udine Far East Film Festival 2022

The easternKicks Podcast

A regular magazine programme about East Asian film, with the latest news, reviews and interviews.

Podcast
Episode 58 – Spotlight on Mongolian Cinema
With If Only I Could Hibernate in UK cinemas, we talk to director Zoljargal Purevdash…
Podcast
Episode 57 – ek Picks for March 2024
Our guide to what to watch on streamers and in cinemas in February…
Podcast
Episode 56 – eK Picks for February 2024
Our guide to what to watch on streamers and in cinemas in February…
Podcast
Episode 55 – easternKicks Picks for January 2024
Our guide to what to watch on streamers and in cinemas in January and February…
Podcast
Episode 54 – easternKicks Picks for December
Our guide to what to watch on streamers and in cinemas…
Podcast
Episode 53 – easternKicks Picks for November
No idea what to watch or where to find it? Here’s our new guide…
Podcast
Episode 52 – Halloween Special: Visible Secret
We revisit Ann Hui’s classic and look at new HK horror Back Home…
Podcast
Episode 51 – A Tokyo Melody: Remembering Ryuichi Sakamoto
We interview Tokyo Melody director Elizabeth Lennard and more…
Podcast
Episode 49 – Mikhail Red interview / Deleter
We focus on the Filipino filmmaker with an exclusive interview…
Podcast
Episode 48 – Mark Dacascos interview / Brotherhood of the Wolf
easternKicks chats to martial arts star (and Iron Chef’s Chairman!) Mark Dacascos…

Time Capsule: The Films of Jia Zhangke - at The Garden Cinema, London

Interviews

Our interviews with filmmakers, directors, actors, composers and much more besides from the world of Asian film…

Interview
Kazuya Shiraishi Interview: “I don’t try to make dark films – they just...
As full of surprises in conversation as career, Shiraishi talks all that makes him tick upon new theatrical and home releases of Bushido…
Interview
Bi Gan interview: “Our lives go through ups and downs, but films...
We talk to the acclaimed director about his latest feature Resurrection…
Interview
Naoya Fujita interview: “I wanted it to be true to being that...
The first-time feature director of Confetti talks ambiguity and discovery in youth…
Interview
Anocha Suwichakornpong: “I was thinking not only about the life cycle of...
We talk to director Anocha Suwichakornpong on her ruminative retrospective coming to Metrograph…
Interview
Akira Emoto interview: “I hope more films are made about Japan from...
A Japanese screen legend speaks with us about his English-language debut…
Interview
Yeo Siew Hua interview: “The history of cinema is sooooo obsessed with...
We talk to the Stranger Eyes director about his film, his philosophy as a filmmaker, and his filmmaking as philosophy…
Interview
Siyou Tan interview: “I don’t wanna make babies for the country!”
We talk to the director of Amoeba about her feature debut…
Interview
Yen and Ai-Lee interview: “We still want to keep making the stories...
Writer-director Tom Lin Shu-yu and actress-producer-writer Kimi Hsia discuss their latest film…
Interview
Ken’ichi Ugana interview: “I knew I had just one chance to film...
Japan’s emerging genre director talks about his international debut and filming in the US…
Interview
Yuumi Kawai interview: “Cinema allows us to create a better future together”
Japan’s rising star talks industry and internalisation…

Shaw Brothers

With releases from Arrow Video, Shout Factory, 88 Films, Eureka and many more, we celebrate the greatest studio of the 20th century…

Review
The Bride from Hell
Chou Hsu-Chiang brings ghosts, magic and love…
Review
The Ghost Lovers
Li Ching stars in this romantic ghostly tale…
Review
The Golden Sword
Cheng Pei-Pei and Kao Yuen unravel a deadly mystery in this wuxia spectacle from Lo Wei…
Review
Bloody Parrot
Hua Shan presents a horror-infused wuxia tale with a touch of sex and gore…
Review
Death Valley
A dark and gritty wuxia film from Lo Wei…
Review
Bat Without Wings
Chor Yuen does what he does best while trying so much more for a wuxia mystery of grotesque beauty…
Review
Shadow Girl
Lily Li plays a mischievous invisible swordswoman in this strange but entertaining wuxia…
Review
The 14 Amazons
A scintillating masterpiece from Cheng Kang where a cast of women warriors in the Song Dynasty take on the Western Xia…
Review
The Lady Hermit
Cheng Pei-pei dazzles in Ho Meng-hua’s classic…
Review
The Black Butterfly
Lisa Chiao Chiao robs from the rich and gives to the poor in this wuxia film by Lo Wei…

Re/Member

Picture of a Nymph

The Eye

Helter Skelter

The Bride from Hell

Shutter

Sakuran

Kazuya Shiraishi Interview: “I don’t try to make dark films – they just...

Bi Gan interview: “Our lives go through ups and downs, but films...

Save the Green Planet!

The Ghost Lovers

CinemAsia Film Festival 2026 unveils lineup of 44 films

Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema returns for 20th Edition!

Oscar nominee Kokuho comes to 28th Far East Film Festival

Mint Chinese Film Festival returns for 4th edition

Garden Cinema presents the UK’s first-ever comprehensive Jia Zhangke retrospective

Politics of Time: The Films of Anocha Suwichakornpong

Garden Cinema presents the UK’s first-ever comprehensive Jia Zhangke retrospective

A film 22 years in production: Caught by the Tides

Caught by the Tides

Xiao Wu: from underground film to restored cinema classic

Ash Is Purest White

24 City

A Touch Of Sin

Jia Zhangke, A Guy from Fenyang

Mountains May Depart

Jia Zhangke and Walter Salles interview: ‘I was struck by the universality…...

Bloody Parrot

Bat Without Wings

The Oily Maniac

The Seeding of a Ghost

Black Magic

Bloody Parrot

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

The Super Inframan

The Seeding of a Ghost

Black Magic and Sleazy Spells: The Shaw Brothers Horror Films

Bi Gan interview: “Our lives go through ups and downs, but films...

Calif Chong interview: “A casting director might say that’s ‘uncastable’ – lesson...

Akira Emoto interview: “I hope more films are made about Japan from...

Rental Family

Left-Handed Girl

High Wire

A Useful Ghost

No Other Choice

Human Resource

The World of Love

Re/Member

Shutter

Save the Green Planet!

Death Forest: Forbidden Forest

Haunted Changi

Ghost Train

Pandemic

Grave Torture

The Viral Factor

Posthouse

Banjong Pisanthanakun interview: “This kind of ghostly story really scared us!”

Bel Ami

Possession Street

Ravens

I, The Song

Lilim

The Stone interview: “Why cheat so much when you are playing with...

Last Song for You

NYAFF 2025 Has Arrived!

Dollhouse

Three / Three… Extremes

Shikoku

Isola: Multiple Personality Girl

Tomie

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman

St. John’s Wort

The best in film festival coverage, year after year

Episode 58 – Spotlight on Mongolian Cinema

Episode 57 – ek Picks for March 2024

Episode 56 – eK Picks for February 2024

Episode 55 – easternKicks Picks for January 2024

Episode 54 – easternKicks Picks for December

Episode 53 – easternKicks Picks for November